1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to aiming devices, in general, and to aiming devices with electronically enhanced target acquisition capabilities, in particular.
2. Prior Art
When making a long range shot with a firearm, the shooter must first determine a firing solution based on distance to target (Range), bullet drop due to the flight characteristic of the bullet and gravity (Drop), and crosswind component of the wind that is blowing at the time of firing (Windage).
Typically, the shooter will have a chart taped to the side of his weapon, or will have memorized the values for each of the corrections i.e. Drop and Windage at various Ranges and wind velocities. The shooter must then make a correction for each of these component values. Two methods are commonly used for this purpose. The first is to manually adjust the turrets on an optical aiming device so that the reticule is directing the shooter to the corrected target position. The second alternative is to use what is commonly called “Holdover” by those skilled in the art. There are many types of optical aiming devices that have graduated reticules for this purpose. The shooter places the target at a different position on the reticule based on its graduations.
There are numerous “Optical solutions” to the “Automatic Firing solution” problem sited in previous patents; however, few seldom survive in the marketplace because of the high cost of automatically moving optical components and the difficulty of maintaining accuracy with repeated impact from a weapon.